Sunday Dolphins Mailbag: Free Agency, Draft Picks, and More
Third and final part of a mid-February weekend All Dolphins mailbag:
From Nick Dorsey (@ndorsey34):
Do you think it’s wise for Miami to approach free agency with an all-in on one side of the ball approach to simplify draft strategy? For example, focus on cap space to sign Williams & Hunt to then spend draft capital all on defense to support your losses there (Wilkins, AVG, etc.).
Hey Nick, I get where you’re coming from, but I think the game plan has to be about finding a way to maintain as many core players as possible regardless of what side of the ball they’re on.
From Brian Z (via email):
With Washington having the most salary cap space with $81.5 million and Miami being $51.2 million over, how about a trade that benefits both teams. Miami sends Bradley Chubb, Xavien Howard, Tua Tagovailoa and pick # 21 in the 2024 draft to Washington. Washington sends the 2nd pick in the 2024 draft to Miami. Washington's biggest needs are QB, Edge, CB and Offensive line. If they use the 21st pick on the O-line, all of their big needs are addressed with this trade. Even if Washington does not restructure the players they acquire, they will still have roughly $5 million left in cap space. They can turn their team into a contender overnight. Miami will then have $25 million in cap space, which they can use to sign Wilkins, Van Ginkel and others. They can draft a top QB prospect and have that QB on a rookie salary for years. I think this trade benefits both teams. Even though I still think Tua is a great QB, I don't think Miami can win if he gets the $40-50 million a year contract he wants. What do you think?
Hey Brian, this is a fun one from a Madden game type of angle, but even assuming for the fun of it that both teams wanted to do it purely from a player standpoint, what’s missing here is that trading Howard and/or Chubb hurts the Dolphins cap space, not helps it. Because of what’s left of their signing bonus against the cap, trading Howard and Chubb together before June 1 would result in $45 million of dead cap space, per overthecap.com. So add that to the $52 million they’re already over and you see this is just not a realistic hypothetical before we even get to the players involved.
From Jesse DeLong (@jessemdelong):
With news of Garoppolo’s impending release, is he a candidate to be the Dolphins backup, or will his injury history/suspension or the backups already on the roster keep the Dolphins from signing him?
Hey Jesse, the only reason I’d see the Dolphins moving on from Mike White as their backup is they want to go a little cheaper and save $3.5 million against the cap. What are the chances Garoppolo would sign for that little. Besides, he’s been injured a lot lately and also is facing that two-game suspension. So I’d say very unlikely the Dolphins sign him.
From Mark Khouri (@Markkhouri7Mark):
How come you and Omar both say Skylar isn’t an NFL QB? Did he ever get a fair shot to be QB1? You give Tua 4 years but can’t even give Skylar 4 games before judging him. What I saw is mini JA17 in his limited work. I didn’t believe in RT and never believed in Tua, so I know QBs.
Hey Mark, we have watched Skylar for two training camps and two preseasons and I think the comment we made was that we haven’t seen solid QB1 material. And there has not been one single solitary moment where I thought I was seeing “mini JA17.” I'd say his ceiling right now would be as a solid NFL backup.
From Roger Dodger (@RogerDolfan):
Watching Hard Knocks and listening to Keith Sims’ interview (on the All Dolphins Podcast) I'm surprised how many NFL players are playing hurt. Isn't this extremely dangerous for players’ long-term career? Isn't a healthy player more important to a NFL team? Or is it always win at any cost for NFL teams?
Hey Roger, it’s not win at “any” cost for NFL teams, but close to it. Isn’t that the goal, though? What I would tell you is that players have gotten a lot more control as when they’re playing through things as they did before. Where the teams go these days is they’ll push for players to play if they’re “hurt” or opposed to “injured,” meaning if pain tolerance is the only issue as opposed to unnecessarily adding an injury risk.
From Pbeckwith17 (@pbeckwith17):
What are the different avenues for the Dolphins to increase their draft capital? How likely/sensible do you think each of the options are?
The only option is acquiring picks via trade, whether it be trading veteran players or sending a higher pick to a team willing to part with an extra one later. The tricky part with trading veterans is that the team acquiring inherits that player’s contract and for the Dolphins whatever prorated portion of the original signing bonus of that players remains on their cap. What I easily could see is the Dolphins trading down from the 21st overall pick to, say, late in the first round and maybe pick up like a third- or fourth-down selection for their troubles.
From Brandon Quinn (via email):
What Weaver did with Roquan and Queen was incredible. I know this sounds out there, but hear me out and react please, bud: Rework Baker’s deal. Cut X and promote Cam. Re-sign Brandon Jones. Let Wilkins and AVG walk (strictly money, we love them in this house). We get two big run-stuffing bodies to play up front with Zach until Phillips/Chubb arrive. And the big move, with saving $30+ on Wilkins and AVG, we reunite Queen with Weaver and still save cap. Now our base D is 3 DL 3 interchangeable MLB essentially in Long Queen and Baker, and our nickel secondary. Once our two studs come back, it’s like a steroid version of the Amoeba defense. But not gimmicky out of necessity like Flores’ D was — 9 of the 12 (NT and boundary CBs will essentially stay put) could legitimately rush or cover, and do it well, any play. Crazy and a lot I know, but thoughts?
Hey Brandon, yeah, that’s a lot. First, where do you get the two big run-stuffing bodies? Those guys just don’t fall off trees. Second, you’re assuming Baker is going to be agreeable to have his having “reworked.” Also, the linebacker corps had issues in coverage last year, especially Long, whose metrics in that department really were ugly. I don’t hate your overall idea, I just don’t think it’s quite as easy to pull off as you think and I’m not sure I have the same opinion of the Baker/Long tandem as you do.
From Shaun Braley (@shaunbraley):
Considering both SB teams (and 3/4 conference championship teams) had a top 10 D, are we seeing the beginning of a trend towards “defense wins championships”?
Hey Shaun, you need both, and I’ll counter you stat by pointing out that all four teams in the conference championship games (KC, BAL, SF, DET) had a top 10 offense. And Detroit was only 19th in total defense and you could argue the Lions should have gotten past the 49ers and made it to the Super Bowl. Finally, the last Super Bowl champion to not have a top 10 offense was the 2015 Denver Broncos … since then three teams have won the Super Bowl without a top 10 defense.
From Bryan Thorn (@thornybr1968):
How many free agents will sign back on, who would you sign, and who would you let walk?
The Dolphins currently have 26 pending unrestricted free agents and I could see about half being re-signed. The priorities for me would Christian Wilkins (yes, he’ll be pricey), Robert Hunt, AVG and Kendall Lamm. You also could see guys like River Cracraft and Braxton Berrios returning, and I’d certainly expect at least one of the two safeties (Brandon Jones or DeShon Elliott) to be re-signed.
From Terry Nielsen (@TKN_OHIO):
I got one for you, greatest #13 for the Dolphins all time. One was an All-Pro and Super Bowl MVP, the other was Dan Marino. Clearly Dan, but an argument can be made for Scott.
Hey Terry, an argument could be made for Scott being a great player (and he was), but I don’t think there’s any world where you could pick him over a Hall of Famer who set numerous NFL records during his time with the Dolphins.
